Publisher's Weekly Review
Neuroscientists Uta and Chris Frith team up with their children's book author son Alex (100 Things to Know About Space) and artist Daniel Locke (Out of Nothing) to construct this comprehensive graphic guide to the workings of the brain, covering topics spanning autism to the psychology of game theory. Uta and Chris chaperone the reader through opaque mysteries of academia, explicating a range of experiments and case studies on different aspects of how the mind operates. In particular, they focus on the ways people's minds interact with one another and the world around them. For example, the truism that "we copy those we like because we want to be liked" is bolstered by evidence that copying is efficient learning not only for human and animal brains, but also machine learning. It's chock-full of science facts and delves into issues such as bias in academic research and mental disorders. Personal anecdotes wind a path through dense topics made accessible for general readers. The art style, however, skews picture book and sometimes feels flat. Though the presentation leaves something to be desired, the work overall has the feel of being invited to dinner with a friend's eccentric genius parents: there are some awkward moments, but readers will learn much by the last course. Agent: Patrick Walsh, PEW Literary. (Mar.)
Guardian Review
This extraordinary comic is a collaboration between the neuroscientists Uta and Chris Frith, their writer son, Alex, and the artist and graphic novelist Daniel Locke. Have I ever read anything like it before? No, I'm certain that I haven't. Each page is a visual delight: as colourful and as joyful as a book for children. It's extremely easy to read and often very funny. And yet you finish it with your mind blown. Simply by virtue of the fact that it makes some pretty cutting-edge brain science seem almost straightforward, it subtly expands the world of the reader. Afterwards, I wasn't only more attentive to my own thought processes (hmm, I thought, as I watched my hand reach for the bottle of sauvignon); armed with a bit more insight into the way people around me might be thinking, it's possible that it may also have liberated me, just a little, from some all too human anxieties (what are they thinking? Doesn't she like me? Why hasn't he called me?). Uta Frith, an emeritus professor of cognitive development at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London, and Chris Frith, emeritus professor at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at University College London, are not only two of the most distinguished academics in Britain; they have also been married for 50 years. In Two Heads, their son sets out not only to tell their story - it opens with the couple, hand-in-hand, arriving at the cluttered, book-filled house in London where they've lived for more than three decades - but to enable them to explain to the layperson some aspects of their research (Uta is known for interest in autism and dyslexia; Chris once worked on the cognitive basis of schizophrenia). Along the way, they deliver many snappy explanations of how the brain works and some potted scientific history. The result is extremely rich, but never forced. It's as if the brain is a fabulous gallery or museum, and they are simply taking us on an access-all-areas tour. It's dizzying to consider the notion that your brain may make a decision before you are aware of this decision yourself; if I was encouraged by what the Friths have to say about bias, fear, kindness and collaboration (our brains learn to believe stereotypes and adjust our behaviour to match them, which explains a lot, I think), I was reassured that even they, to a degree, find each other unknowable (minds are mysterious and perhaps that is a good thing, sometimes). The plasticity of the brain, and its ability to function even when parts of it are damaged, will never cease to be amazing. But I must be honest: it wasn't the science that I relished most, so much as the storytelling talents of Alex Frith and Daniel Locke. Their strips are an all-out treat, packed with visual similes and metaphors, slapstick jokes and witty, meta footnotes. With their round heads, which may be flipped open like boiled eggs to reveal the enigmatic organ within, and their ever smiling faces, the Friths, as they are drawn here, are at once themselves, clever and authoritative, and two highly original comic book characters, always larking about, always indulging in provocative little marital arguments. Like this book, they are truly delightful; you feel glad that they, and it, exist.
Kirkus Review
A graphic nonfiction book that neither simplifies nor trivializes the way the human brain works. Uta and Chris Frith are renowned neuroscientists, and their son Alex is a prolific author of more than 50 children's books on a vast array of topics. In this dynamic exploration of the immense complexity of the brain, the Friths collaborate with British artist and graphic novelist Locke. In addition to the authors' knowledgeable tours of the relevant science, the graphic element serves to reinforce the spirit of collaboration, one of the book's primary themes. Though most studies in neuroscience have focused on a single brain, the Friths have concluded, through their research and their personal experiences, that brains function differently and better in connection with other brains and that collaborations with others usually produce superior results compared to results achieved when working alone. Furthermore, the more diverse the collaborative teams, the better. The authors and illustrator convey a pleasing mix of wonder, genial humor, and humility, as husband and wife banter about their work and their son provides the narrative cohesion and framing. The illustrations vividly capture both the significance of the scientific experiments and the unique familial experiences of the Friths. Locke's art also helps clarify challenging issues involving, among other topics, autism and schizophrenia; in-groups and out-groups; how the brain can function like a hive of bees; and the deleterious effects of the failure to connect. As do many other books on the brain, this one leaves little doubt that so much of what we think or do is in response to the ways we copy others or anticipate what we think they think. Indeed, the authors begin by sharing a secret: "No one understands how the brain works." However, by the end of this refreshing journey, readers will be much further down the path toward understanding. An enlightening, inspirational scientific voyage that highlights the importance of collaboration. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
The latest in a trend of comics about the brain, this offers a look into the world of cognitive neuroscience, where researchers Uta and Chris Frith seek to understand how brains (and people) work together. A collaborative effort, this is the work of the doctors Frith, their son Alex Frith, and illustrator Daniel Locke that weaves a delicate dance between memoir and popular science. For example, while sharing the history of the field's current understanding of autism, readers also learn about Uta Frith's research into autism and what was happening concurrently in the authors' lives. Visually, there is a strong reliance on the traditional nine-panel grid and some smart visual metaphors that combine comics and research visuals quite well (such as the triangle face studies). Nonfiction comics and science readers will be pleased to see footnotes and a complete bibliography. In the end, the answer to the question "Are two heads better than one?" turns out to be "It's complicated."
